We read all the scripts, now we’re watching all the pilots. SSN brings you our insight on the hot new pilots of the upcoming TV season as we watch the screeners and report back to you.
BETRAYAL
ABC Drama Premieres Fall – Sunday Nights at 10:00pm Executive Producers: David Zabel (Writer/EP), Rob Golenberg, Alon Aranya Director: Patty Jenkins (The Killing pilot) Writer: David Zabel (Lucky 7, Detroit 1-8-7, ER) Cast: Stuart Townsend, Hannah Ware, Henry Thomas, James Cromwell, Chris Johnson 
Logline: Married photographer Sara Hadley (Hannah Ware), starts an affair with powerful lawyer Jack McAllister (Stuart Townsend), only to find he is the defense attorney for a murder suspect her husband Drew (Chris Johnson) is prosecuting in a high-profile case. The affair quickly complicates both Sara and Jack’s lives but they can’t ignore the chemistry they have together.
SSN Insight: It’s clear ABC hopes to build on the nighttime melodrama success it has with Scandal with this story of power, corruption and infidelity. We’re sure more vices will be thrown into the mix as the season progresses. Townsend and Ware are charismatic leads so viewers will buy their attraction/affair. We also love the casting of James Cromwell as powerful patriarch Thatcher Karsten and Henry Thomas as his not so swift son T.J. Karsten. The pilot episode baits the audience just enough to get them to return for more, which is exactly what a pilot should do.
Today’s SSN round of applause goes to David Zabel for having not one, but two shows on the ABC fall schedule, Betrayal and Lucky 7, a drama about lottery winners. To say that doesn’t happen often is an understatement.
The show’s competition: The Mentalist (CBS), Sunday Night Football (NBC)